Today's Features

Ask Bronson Volunteer Fire Department Captain Jerry Horton why the program he helped pioneer, the Levy County Fire Academy, is growing in popularity, and he’ll tell you it’s because of the quality of the instructors. “If it wasn’t for the instructors, it wouldn’t be what it is today,” he said Thursday. The program, given its official name this year, has steadily grown since it was started about five years ago and is being looked at by the Florida State Fire College, in Ocala, as a potential partner in providing more advanced t

Data collection specialists with the Suwannee River Water Management District spend long hours installing, maintaining and collecting data from gages along our rivers, lakes, and streams, but they can’t do it without the help of a few volunteers that supplement their efforts. More than 30 volunteer observers help collect rainfall and water-level data from manual gages within the District’s 15-county region.

The Suwannee River Water Management District commends Anderson Columbia Co., Inc., and Strickland Field Limited Partnership for a10-year commitment to water resource protection. The District purchased development rights on a 3,822-acre parcel owned by Anderson Columbia and Strickland Field Limited Partnership for $2.3 million 10 years ago. Under the terms of the conservation easement, landowners of the property have agreed to keep the property in its current natural state. The agreement restricts harvesting or alteration of forested wetlands.

Another Way, Inc., which operates a shelter and life skills center for victims of domestic violence and rape in Chiefland, has received a grant from Walmart Foundation for $60,000 to support the continuation of its Economic Empowerment Program. The non-profit agency which serves Columbia, Dixie, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Lafayette, Levy and Suwannee counties had been facing an end of funding for the program by another foundation when the Walmart Foundation came through with the grant. Donna Fagan, executive director of Another Way, said the agency serves about 900 to